Lack of coherent energy policy in UK
The Lamentable Lack of a Coherent Energy Policy in the UK
Energy supply hobby horse time!
So we are going to be a renewable energy superpower are we? So says Keir Starmer in October 2024.
A few interesting things have come together in the last few October weeks of high pressure, low or no wind, and shortening days. Whilst the UK can generate up to about 38% of its electricity from renewable sources the responsible planning for future supply must cater for the long periods of time in the winter when that doesnt happen. In recent weeks, according to National Grid:Live, there have been several days when renewables have contributed only 15-18%, and the interconnectors that used to run at about 12% have been around 15% since the closing of the last coal fired power station.
So the UK is perhaps c85% self sufficient in generated power, buying most of our gas, all of our solar panels, all of our transition minerals, and the balance of our electricity from other nations. Thatll be cheap. If one accepts a premise that we should plan for perhaps 120% of capacity to allow for maintenance and replacement the situation is even worse.
Coupled with this arithmetic is a recent article in the ever excellent Materials World (July/Aug 2024) reporting on a meeting in Westminster discussing Long Duration Energy Storage. Around half of the storage technologies reported are said to be commercial while the rest are in R&D or pilot stages. There are stated to be a number of challenges in connecting renewable sources to the grid in the first place including intermittency, geographic location, planning, and expensive grid fees. Are these embryo technologies going to grow sevenfold to store 85% of our required power for weeks on end in a typical winter? And this by 2035 when Government(s) have targeted a fully decarbonised grid.
Not a chance, I would submit.
An earlier article in Materials World about a year ago suggested that large battery storage in the UK would have to increase by 170 times in order to move from Megawatt capacities to Gigawatt capacities. And this is assuming that the technologies exist.
The National Grid now costs £4.19 billion per year to run (and rising), and this cost has risen 250% since 2019. Quite an impressive rate of inflation that the customer is paying for. Ten years of that increase alone would buy a nuclear power station.
Surely the best way to constrain grid costs and counter instability is to grow the input of good quality, controllable, reliable electricity. Installing Small Modular Reactors at several decommissioned power station sites, with all their infrastructure in place, would be a major step forward in achieving this and earning us some time in which to build another couple of large nuclear power stations.
It is irresponsible of all Governments to base an energy policy on dodgy environmental rhetoric, political dogma and crossed fingers that somebody will invent a magic bullet. It might not be exciting and charismatic but a policy has to be based on the facts and the numbers. Its a resource thing.
I just hope Im not on the operating table when the lights go out.
